End of an Era (SGC)
I'm doing over this story Here Part 1 Cerebrium stood on the other side of the circular hologram projector/table. He was grey, with cylinder shaped body parts, but now he sported wheels on his shoulders and legs and design characteristics of a car hood on his chest. The others, in the dimly lit room, also sported kibble, features upon their bodies that suggested an alternate anatomy. Such as Indigo, the white and orange, female, who now clearly transformed into some manner of ground vehicle. "I take it everyone has been upgraded..." said Cerebrium "Good..." Upon the table, the image of a large mechanoid appeared. His body was large, tall and heroic in build, plain looking, with a deep green color scheme, blue eyes and a plate for a face. "This is Zen, now going by the name 'Maxion Prime'. A quarter Stellar cycle ago he was mad, due to a combination of his Super Heart, a graviton propelled slug to the CPU and a shot of Techno Venom. He has already killed over six hundred mechanoids, on both sides and believes himself to be a Senticon, ancient enemy of the ancestors of both Cyberbot and Destroids. Your mission, is to bring him back alive, or at the very least, his Heart, which I'm told could result in incredible advancements for our species..." "How so...?" asked Theorem, young bot with a red and white color scheme and wheels on his shoulders and legs. "The 'Masters' say his Heart could be used as the mechanism to restart the core of our homeworld." Almost everyone jumped in surprise. For most, their homeworld had been dead since when the war started, over a thousand years ago. However they had heard tales of what it was before the Titans scoured it, before the war destroyed, how the core generated pulses of energy creating Engen and Plasma Hearts. "Where was he last seen...?" asked a large Mechanoid, about the same size as Zen, he was purple and black, with a single large optic for a face, and a large cannon on his left arm. On the back of his legs were wheels and on his back. "To answer you question, Hyperion, he attacked and destroyed the Nemesis Vaults..." "The what...?" asked Theorem. "We Destroids..." said Hyperion "We tend to keep our most dangerous toys, or at least the prototypes in the Nemesis Vaults before they are authorized for use. A safety measure, since we are prone to infighting." "I see..." he replied with disdain in his voice "I highly doubt, he just went there to blow it up, clearly he must've taken something..." "Impossible to say..." said Cerebrium, "he blew up the entire station. However, we now know where he went. The analysis of the dispersal pattern of the tachyon trail reveals that he went to Vandora..." "Of course..." said Hyperion. "Is that suppose to mean something?" said Indigo. "Vandora was the homeworld of the Vandoricons, who most of you know as the Senticons. It would make sense that he went there. He patterns himself after their leader." "I fail to see what could be so great about him...Our ancestors defeated him..." said Theorem. "Our ancestors were all but wiped out by him, and his kind left the galaxy. People say they were destroyed, that is just the defeated and scared trying to save face." Theorem tried to hide his sneer. "Maxion, Maxion Prime, took control of the last Titan Maxion, from whom he got his name. Not the Titans we know off, these ones were even bigger and more powerful. He stole the sacred relic of the Chromiums, and reconfigured it into the Regenesis Matrix, using it to convert his race of organics into a species of mechanoids. He created a weapon of incredible destructive power and energy production and at the end of the war killed Gigatron, the Chromium Leader, Magnus the leader of the Engineering Guards, and destroyed the mad computer and the core of planet Rodania, Tribunal, destroying that planet and committing genocide on two species of mechanoids." "You speak as if you know him..." "You really don't know I am, or how old I am do you...?" everyone but Cerebrium looked confused. "That is enough. Hyperion, your team has its mission." "Wait, 'his' team...?" said Theorem "Enough...! Hyperion is in charge, that is final." Indigo sat on the chair, in the back of the shuttle, arms crossed, the round pieces that served as her ears, had glowing rings, signalling that she was listening to something internally. "...The rights of the Sentient..." said the voice in the recording "No being, man, woman, organic, mechanoid, or anything inbetween, has the right to away the freedom of sentient beings! For too long, too many have raised themselves by bringing down others and have had the audacity, the folly to call that greatness. Greatness does not need to be stolen, or pilfered away, greatness breeds greatness!" She felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked to see Theorem and turned off his recording. "What are you doing he asked. "I'm listening to recording of Maxion Prime..." "You mean, Zen...?" "No, 'the' Maxion Prime. He apparently had a thing for speeches..." "Why bother...?" "I'm not on this mission to shoot him, I'm here to talk him down, if possible but also give insight into how he thinks of himself. The bot he patterns himself after is radically different from the behavior he shows..." "The both killed lots of people, how are they so different...?" "Maxion Prime, was leader when his people were being invaded by both the Chromium Commonwealth and Rodanians. He was defending his own people..." "Commonwealth...?" "It's amazing what history shows us, and sad. Our ancestors once had an empire spanning what the organics call the 'Mechanoid Zone'. Then the war happened, and everything changed, most if not all mechanoids were wiped out, and the few that survived only did so long enough to make us, whoever they are...?" "It sounds like we need a dashing young mech, to bring about a new Golden Age..." said Theorem, barely hiding his arrogance. "Like who, you..." said Iota, a male white and orange mech. He had a similar build and alternate mode to Indigo. Sigma, next to Iota, laughed. She was a brown and red mech, and slightly bigger than the other three. "This is an odd team..." said Theorem "Me, an up and coming genius, Iota, an energy expert, Indigo, the glitched bot's mental doctor, and the Destroids couldn't spare anyone else beside Hyperion and you, Epsilon....?" Epislon was a black, purple and green young bot, who like every else transformed into a ground vehicle, but he instead had wheel on his back the hood of his car mode for his chest. "That's three people not made for fighting, and three actually mean for combat, going against a guy who's killed over six hundred bots with his bare hands...!" "You forget..." said Epsilon "we have these new Transmetal bodies, stronger, faster, integrated weapons, more survival features and the ability to transform. As strong as he is, we can, and should be able to out maneuver him." "We've arrived..." said Hyperion's voice, over the com-system. "Still..." said Theorem "it's clear we are short on manpower." "We can all shoot..." said Sigma "Hyperion took him down before, which is what started this whole mess, and Epsilon and me can help him. Iota's study of energy, Engen, means he can track him, Indigo can help with formulating a plan to stop him, and you...are probably here to fix our guns..." Theorem growled and Sigma smirked. Part 2 "Why are we dead in space...?" asked Theorem. Everyone was in the bridge of the shuttle craft, a vessel designed for long rage missions for a small crews. "Simple..." said Hyperion "The probes have not returned yet..." "Yeah, but why bother scanning THE ENTIRE SYSTEM...!?" "The Vandoricon set up numerous traps around their home system in anticipation of an invasion, or they were just paranoid." "You're paranoid! Why would he...?" "The probes are done..." said Ioata "all clear..." "See..." "Sigma, Epsilon, take us in for landing at these coordinates..." "What's there...?" "The Vandoricon Capital city..." Even from the distance the derelict city was alien to them. Where their cities were cubic, sometimes with spikes, for the Destroids, this city was big on curves. Nearly every building was partly a dome in some fashion or the other, even those that sported towers. Around the town the landed in, was a desert, sand had filled up the streets and covered the rest of the planet. The shuttle landed on what was clearly an ancient landing pad. A circular, open hangar from whence they disembarked on their quest. "What..." said Iota. Everyone looked at him. "What's wrong...?" asked Indigo. "There is Engen, all over this place..." "How is that possible...?" asked Theorem. "Some was left behind or..." "Or what...?" "Or..." said Hyperion "Maxion has repaired and reactivated the city's systems..." "Worse than that, there is Engen gas in the atmosphere as well, not enough to be a problem for us, but enough to bother radiowaves and the scanner." "On the plus side, he can't find us so easily..." said Theorem. There was silence for a moment. "Destroids..." said Hyperion "Cyberbots, transform..." Almost everyone had the same transformation scheme. They got on their knees as their arms contracted inward. For most, their backpack flipped over, top their heads to become the front of cars, With Epsilon, his disappeared into his upper body as his chest raised up. Everyone's arms folded in front of their chest, moving the wheels into usable positions. The back of their legs, merged with the back of their thighs, and then the back half of their vehicle forms was done. Hyperion was different. His head disappeared first, going into his chest. His arms moved back over where his head was, joining together, while the cannon moved in the middle and moved back. His cannon was now a tank cannon, while his arms, hands now gone, was between the large wheel on his back. He fell back on those wheel, with his chest merging with his pelvic region. His thighs contracted into his lower legs, his feet split apart and contracted into his leg arm as the wheels on the back of his legs moved forward. They were now in vehicle form and took of, with Hyperion's alternate mode, oddly enough, being the fastest with boosters in the back. The others followed him and he took of through the derelict airport. Part 3 "I really don't get these design choices..." said Theorem as they drove through the abandoned buildings and back streets "they're so..." "Organic..." said Hyperion. "yeah, what's up with that...?" "The Vandoricons were said to have been once organic, remember. Maxion Prime, himself is noted for being the first of his kind to convert from organic to biomechanical." "Huh, and they never sought to expand beyond their home system...?" "They had a war about that, between the Senticons, lead by Maxion Prime and the Predabots lead by his brothers Garrus and Marik, I think. The Predabots preached that they should go out and slaughter the organic species in revenge for their ancestors' banishment and to prove their superiority." "And the Senticons stopped them...?" said Theorem with a tone of disbelief. "You do know, your was the faction that allied itself with the organic races..." "That doesn't mean I agree with it. I believe in the freedom of us Mechanoids, organics...they are organic. Honestly it's no wonder these Senticons were destroyed..." "They just left...no one know where they went, Theorem, for all we know they could be here, sleeping in stasis for some unknown cause." "I doubt that, any bot that would think of themselves an organic is clearly malfunctioning. Were not for what his Heart could do for his world, I personally think we should just off the poor glitch and put him out of his misery... Who's with me...?" There was silence, utter silence. "Seriously, even you Destroids...?" "We fought for Mechanoid Freedom..." said Epsilon "You Cyberbots fought to maintain the control of the Council's hold on us..." "Really, when last I checked you're obeying said council..." "Only to survive, the Titans forced our hands." "Right..." "Besides..." said Hyperion "The Vandoricons had technology that even now, we do not have..." "Like what...?" "Guys..." said Iota. Everyone stopped "I'm getting a signal, a big one..." "Where...?" said Hyperion. "What is this place...?" asked Sigma. The group were all outside a large building, with a flight of steps, preventing the use of vehicle forms. On it was a sign, in the Vandoricon language that none of them seem able to translate. "Translation Lock..." said Hyperion. "What...?" responded Theorem "The Vandoricon had this practice of doing something to their written word and spoken language that prevented translation programs from deciphering them." "That's impossible, I mean, we've never done anything like that..." "That does not make it impossible. The Vandoricons were the first to have transformable bodies, as a standard for their species rather than certain classes. They were the first to engineer a means of converting other forms of fuel into Engen, and they built the solar harvester..." "The what...?" "A series of graviton lenses, which focused plasma from a star, down to the planet below to be converted into Engen. It was how they produced vast amounts of Engen. Aside from that one short civil war, they never had the problem we did. In fact, they knew the secret of mass producing...transmetal..." "The stuff we're now made off...?" said Indigo "Indeed..." "That's impossible..." said Theorem upset "we can't..." "Enough, enough of your ego, your elitism. Contrary to what you think, the galaxy doesn't spin around us. Now inside, weapons ready..." All but Indigo and Theorem, transformed on of their arms into an arm cannon. Theorem took out twin pistols from his backpack, and Indigo was unarmed. Inside, deep inside, many were shock at what they saw. There capsules, but not the medical containers they were used to. Transparent green orbs, in machines composed of mechanical vines and tentacles. There were control pads but nothing but the doors were working. "What is this place...?" asked Sigma. "Disgusting is what it is..." said Theorem "Mechanical parts should not look like organic...organics!" "It's called a hatchery..." said a voice, a disembodied voice Part 4 Everyone but Hyperion gathered in a circle. They had no idea where the voice came from, or to whom it belonged to, but Indigo did. "Zen...?" she said. "Now, now..." he replied "we both know that's not my name..." "Maxion, Maxion Prime..." "Indeed, though I am surprised to find you here." "I'm just here to talk with you..." "While your friends, shoot me and stick me back in your core, to restart your free Engen, buffet?" There was silence. "Oh, they didn't tell you what I actually am, did they and yes, Hyperion, it is good to see you to." "So..." said Hyperion "It is you..." "Do not act like you didn't know, I know you're smarter than that." "What did you mean by 'hatchery'...?" shouted Theorem. "What use would robots have...?" "Robotic life form, little thing..." said Maxion's voice with a tone of dislike "My kind was not built on an assembly line, each new Ember was the result of the bio-code of two or more Vandoricons merged into a new sequence, a new ember. It was a mechanical replication of the natural procreation process we had as organics. Here, these new Embers would be given bodies, Birth Metal, or 'transmetal' as you call it, would be pump into these eggs. The metal would bond with the Ember and grow into new body. From there, the hatchling would be freed of its pod. After a period of education and growth, you would get an adult Vandoricon." "How pathetic, how redundant and wasteful and..." "Considering that you're walking about in a ripp-off version of my species' form, that your bio-code is a simplified mimicry of my bio-code, that the greatest of your scientific advancements came about by myself and the original Chromium with you. You really don't get to talk about your nonexistent 'superiority'. Your kind, you 'Cyberbots' and 'Destroids', like all knock-offs, you brake so easily. What you call 'Super Hearts' I call an average Vandoran's abilities, self repair functions, limited to the most advance and prestigious of your kind. Tell me, 'Theorem', what is the most advance, the greatest feat of your kind...?" "The Graviton Gun..." "I built that..." "Well Hyperion..." "Hyperion is an original Chromium, one of your ancestors, who predates the Plasma Heart. Your transmetal? Your new 'masters' gave you that. Honestly you're just sad." "You...!" "Enough..." said Hyperion "Enough...? That glitch just..." Hyperion pointed his cannon at his head. "Enough..." "Maxion..." said Indigo "What do you want...? Why are attacking us?" "Huh, you don't know what you are do you? Of course not. The fact remains your kind, they are a threat to the rest of the galaxy..." "Rest of the galaxy, you mean that organic filth, why should..." "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings, vermin, it is the refusal to acknowledge that, that started your petty little war. I will warn you this once, get of my planet..." "Or what...?" said Theorem. "What do you know about Engen...?" said Maxion. "It's composed of Plasma particles combined with a Photon Particles Electron charge, causing it to behave, most commonly, as a liquid at room temperature..." said Iota with an air of accomplishment. "It's also explosive...?" Hyperion tensed up. "So...?" said Theorem. "So..." said Indigo with fear on her face "we're in a hatchery, the 'hatchlings' need to be fed, while they develop!" "Smart girl..." said Maxion. Indigo was the first to transform, then the others, then Hyperion, then Theorem, who was caught off-guard. Following them was a series of blue explosions and a wave of blue fire. Theorem barely made it out of the building, when the blast sending him flying and smoking past the others into a nearby shop window. Part 5 "Head count...!" said Hyperion getting up. Everyone was sore, it was a different sort of pain than what they were accustomed to. Instead of discomfort and warning signals in their head, it was legitimate pain, the kind you aim for Plasma Heart to get, but on a much milder level. "I still function..." said Theorem, dragging himself out of the shop. "The rest of us are fine..." said Sigma. "Fine?" said Iota "I wouldn't call that fine! How did he know all of that...?" "Clearly he made it up..." said Theorem "Oh, and how did he know to blow up the Engen reserves..." "He's been here for months probably, he learned...!" "And the translation lock thing...?" "He made it up, if we keep looking at these signs long enough then..." "He is the real deal..." said Hyperion. Everyone looked at him. "Of, course, because you're a relic" he said skepticism. "How does it feel to be last centuries model?" Without any warning, Hyperion grabbed his head and lifted him into the air. "Insult me again and I shall remove your Heart and feed it to you." He dropped him "I fought Maxion, I know his voice, and I know his methods. Though I will admit, this is a bit different." "How so...?" asked Indigo. "The Maxion of the past would've blown us all up in that explosion, end the threat quickly. Instead he gave us warning, a vague one, but... It's almost as if he's playing with us, like..." "Like a hunter...?" Hyperion looked her way. "Maxion's people, when they were organic, they were known for being marauders, warriors who lived for the 'hunt'. Then there's the fact that he seems intent on wiping us out, completely different from the Maxion of before, but then..." "Then...?" "He was in our core, from the way he talked about it, it may not have been pleasant..." "So what...?" said Theorem "he's crazy...? I don't think we needed a specialist to tell us that...Let us just find this bot and..." "This bot..." said Sigma "Is one of the strongest specimens our species ever produced, and if what they are saying is accurate, he may currently be stronger than what we previously thought. In either case, we are dealing with a seriously powerful bot, who also happens to be one of the smartest in the galaxy. Now you were brought here for what?" "To counter his intelligence..." he said with an air of pride. "So how about you shut off the ego, use that CPU of yours to figure something, to stop him before I ram my fit up one of your vents!" "Why you..." "She is right..." said Indigo "Everyone is trying to accomplish this mission, but you just seemed preoccupied with your elitism." "You don't even have a gun..." "And yet I am not the weakest link..." Everyone looked at him. "Okay, I see how it is. Fine, I'll show you, I'll show all of you...!" Theorem transformed and drove off. "Theorem wait...!" shouted Indigo. Hyperion stopped her, shaking his head. "Maxion is on the hunt, if one member of the group separates like that...!" "Then we have a chance..." said Hyperion. Part 6 "What do those low techs know...!" mused Theorem to himself. He walked down a back alley having taken to robot mode due to the sand. "Wretched planet, why is there so much blasted sand...!?" "Simple..." said Maxion's voice "Ages the organic races tried to eradicate my people, so they blasted this world, 'glassed' it is the term." Theorem stopped and pulled out his blasters. "Come out and show yourself...!" "Oh, did the Psychiatrist not warn you...?" "The, what...?" "The 'mental doctor' as you so primitively describe it..." "Primitive...? Said the bot trying to imitate a dead race...?" "Oh, you don't know do you, all the things my kind has done, compared to yours." "My ancestors destroyed 'your kind'...!" "How...?" "What...?" "How, how did they destroy the Vandoricons. All the records say simply, that they were gone. But then again a prideful fool like yourself would not question such things. Such a demeanor is not becoming of a scientist..." "What do you know about science...?" Some hit him, attaching itself to his chest, a small disc like object. Within seconds he was being electrocuted and his CPU crashed. When he came to, Theorem was on a circular platform. His wrists and ankles sported circular chains the pulled his feet down to the ground and his arms into the air. He was a room, dark except for the computer monitors and their touchscreen keyboards, and the light above him. Out of the dark he walked, a Mechanoid, as tall as 'Zen'. He sported a blue helmet, with a face plate, green optics, a white body, blue forearms and a large blue boots. In his legs were wheels and another pair poked out of his back, while his chest was mainly one large red windscreen made of a dense crystal structure. One could barely make out the parts within him, primarily a subtle glow which Theorem guessed to be his Plasma Heart. "Zen..." said Theorem. "My name..." he said in a matter-of-fact tone "Is Maxion Prime, and I welcome you to my...let's call it a lab.." "Let's call you crazy..." "And yet you proceed with trying to insult me, not very wise...Theorem..." "What do you want, glitch...?" "Information...!" "Oh..." "Yes, your new Birth Metal bodies, I am curious as how they work in combination to your 'Plasma Hearts'." he snapped his fingers, and a mechanical arm came down. Theorem noted the biomechanical design of the machine, resembling an insect arm, with robotic joints, tubing, a metallic exoskeleton and ending with a gun barrel... It was then Theorem began to panic. However, it was a bullet, or a pulse of plasma that came out, instead it was a shower of barely visible white light, which was actually more painful than a blaster. Theorem screamed in pain while Maxion watched with a cold stare. When it was over, holographic icons, charts and blue prints appeared around Maxion, but he was uninterested in them at the moment. "Interesting..." he said "It would seem that your ability to feel pain has extended beyond just your Plasma Heart..." "What...?" "You know what I mean. Say, you blew of your leg, it wouldn't have hurt as it does now. You would feel the pain...in your Heart but afterwards, you isolate those system, and what not." He turned and looked at the data floating around him. "Hah, there hasn't been much change to you anatomy, a different model of EM Joints, added transformation lock bars and your now circuit rich armor plating has some degree of claytronics. That transformation geear...Primitive..." Theorem looked up, angry. "Excuse me...?" he said feeling insulted. "This body was given..." "I know of your masters, they put in the core, all those centuries ago. Though it does my Ember good knowing how many died with that attempt..." "What do you mean...?" "There are bigger things than them, and they hold rules that they enforce on their lessers, your masters. It's why they rule with proxies. The longer they direct interfere the more of them will be wiped out." "Really, then why risk creating us...?" "Is that not obvious...you're not as smart as you think, and don't lie to me, I can see in your optics, you haven't even made a guess. A race of godlike beings used me to mass produce a race of what...?" "Robots..." Maxion backhanded him. He then leaned forward "I don't like stupid answers, especially not from those that 'pride' themselves on being so smart. They used me to mass produce what?" "Robots...!" Maxion rolled his eyes and stood up straight. "What is a robot...?" "A mechanical being..." "No, that is a 'robotic being'. A sentient A.I. in a robot body, is a robotic being. Speeders, star shuttles, simple little drones, especially drones, machines. People are so confused about the difference between robotic beings and mindless drones, they invented 'drones' to emphasize a mindless robot... But before Robots being sentient, what did they call them...?" "Robots..." "Good...so what are you?" "What happened to stupid questions...?" "You're not a robot are you, you have a robotic form, but a robot is just a machine. You give it an input, it goes through a process, you get an output." "That's a computer..." "A computer program, yes, but also the definition of a machine, because a machine can be more than metal. But I digress. What does, what did I, the 'core' produce...?" "Engen and..." There was a look of realization. "Plasma Hearts. Synthetic energy beings, not unlike your masters. The problem was...you were not like your masters. So, they abandoned you. I imagine probably Hyperion came, and made bodies, or they made your forms for you but regardless that was how your race came to be. Baby ascended in robotic shells, but alas, you were never going to be what they wanted." "I don't understand..." "You can't just 'will' an ascended being into existence, living energy, animated energy, with the intellect to control and direct their forms, able to...exist in ways that edge past the conventional waking world. In that regard you are, were failures. But clearly, now, they have an idea. The Birthmetal shells you are in, instead of limiting the energy being inside to just converting fuel into power for your body, like my form it now moves from the will of the Ember." "Like your form...?" "Did the wheels not give it away? Or how about this...?" Maxion raised his arm. His hand, automatically clenched into a fist and disappeared into his arm. The top half of his forearms, split open and the armor moved down as a gun barrel rose up and extended out towards his face. Part 7 "That's not possible..." said Theorem. Maxion put away his cannon and restored his arm. "Child, do not talk to me about what isn't 'possible'. I've made a career redefining that boundary." He stepped back "But I've ignore your friends for long enough, and so have you..." When he came to, Theorem came down crashing on a table, to the surprise of his team. Hyperion immedately ran over to him and began scanning with his arm mounted computer. "Huh, I didn't know you cared...?" said Theorem, getting up. "I don't, damn! Zeta Shield." "What...?" said Ioata. "Maxion is using a teleporter, it's where 'he' came from. But he's blocking the particle trace, so I can't track the matter stream back to where he just came from." Everyone looked at him confused. "Maxion has a teleportation machine and a system to block teleportation." "That's impossible..." said Theorem. "Said the bot who was just teleported. Maxion was known for many things. Birth Metal, the Sun Harvester program, Molecular Synthesizers but most of his greatest feats often involved playing with space like it was claytronics..." "He...he called it 'Birth Metal'..." said Theorem uncomfortable. "You met him..." "He scanned me, he looked different..." "Mostly white body, blue feet and arms, blue helmet, red windscreen for a chest...?" "Yes, how did..." "That is the form Maxion was known for. Clearly he has abandoned his 'Zen' form, now the question is, what upgrades has he given his current form." "This is insane...!" shouted Theorem stumbling back. "Are you really entertaining the idea that he's, he's really. That he was... Do you know what he said about, us 'Chromiums' that we..." "Your generation is the result of the 'Masters' experiment in finding a means of reproduction..." said Hyperion coldly. Everyone was silent, and Theorem fell to his backside. "I'm not hearing this..." "What did he take...?" " What...?" Hyperion grabbed him by the arm. "He took you for a reason, instead of killing you, what for...?" "He just scanned me, he wanted to know our current technology, it was...painful." "Is that all, do a system's check..." "Why does it matter...?" Hyperion grabbed his throat and hoisted him up. "This is Maxion, Maxion Prime, who tamed the Titan, who mastered the secrets of Empyrion's relic, who turned the lesser of his home system's suns, into a battery to power his world and his people's reproduction and into a death laser which he used to decimate our fleets and raze Rodania's surface! This is Maxion, who before becoming a Mechanoid, crafted and unleashed The End, a weapon of such absolute power, it scarred the fabric of the universe itself in the form of the Vandoran anomaly. This is the mind I speak, the mind which now has an itch to scratch, that can only be relieved by the genocide of every single Cyberbot, Destroid and Mechanoid Titan! So you will work to figure out what he took!" There was silence, and a great deal of fear. "My...my pistols are gone, and..." "And what...?" "By Techno Venom blaster!" Hyperion dropped him. Indigo went and hugged Theorem, who was clearly far from okay and began whispering into his audio receptors trying to comfort him. "He can't be that dangerous...?" said Epsilon. "When he was 'Zen'..." said Hyperion "He turned a subspace transmitter, a deep space dish, into a scanner, allowing him to be the first to scan a Mechanoid Titan. If he wants to get rid of us, trust me, he can do it. The question now, is not if we can stop him, it is if we can do it in time. Indigo...!" "Yes...?" "Opinion...?" "If I had to guess...Maxion may more than likely try to kill us now. If he knew what he needed before we got here, he may have already made preparatons for whatever his planning. I take you two have a history?" "Indeed." "Then given his current mental state, he may try to gloat." "Which means we have time, just not a lot of it..." Part 8 "Genocide..?." Said the ethereal being, like a ghost made of light she hovered above Maxion as he worked at his terminal. "Is that not what you rebuked us for...?" "You, you made slaughter innocents, those you were afraid would get on your level..." "And what are the Chromiums, are they not innocent...?" "Everyone single one of them is a killer, their war, their disregard for sentient rights, even allowing them live, even if you lot had not taken over, it would be one long leap of faith...and you're here, you control them now, which only means one thing..." "We can stop you, we can send agents to stop you..." "And...send them, send your dogs, I have already prepared myself for you." "You think you keep this from us we..." She outstretched her hand towards the console, and Maxion grabbed it, destroying it in a blaze of blue flames. She recoiled in pain, shrieking before she regrew her arm. "I think you should remember your place, remember why you feared me so much so stuff me in the core of a planet! I think that you know know there is no reason why I can't simply turn this on you. Your kind I know better than them, the stuff of you, it would not be so difficult to make some to deal with you permanently. Now, get thee hence..." "They are your children, even single one of them ,exists because of you, and now you will wipe them out! What happened to freedom, to right to choose one's path...?" "Some paths lead to extinction..." "And you call us heartless..." "You are..." he noticed a light on the console "Your pets are afoot..." The team moved in robot mode, trying to be as silent as possible, and the revving of engines made that impossible. They avoided the main streets and continued with Iota in front followed by Sigma, Hyperion and Indigo and Theorem in the back. They followed Iota because his systems pointed to the flow of Engen, which seemed the most likely spot for a control terminal, a lab, Maxion's headquarters in whatever form it took. They didn't know how much time was left, they just knew they had to hurry and what happened next did not help. They were trying to cross the street when Theorem screamed out in pain. Everyone looked back to see Theorem on the ground, one of his thighs had been blew off, leaving a stump of blasted and partially melted metal attached to his thigh. Transformation was no out of the question, there was no point in moving as a three wheeled car. The others dove onto the other side of the street while Indigo moved for Theorem and took him back on the other side. He was in shock, shivering and stuttering, with gritting and his optics opened wide. "What are you doing...?" said Hyperion over the come system. "Leave him, he's dead weight...!" "I can't just abandon him! Besides, we have a sniper..." She took out her pistol. "Damn him..." Indigo wasn't sure who he was referring to, but that was the end of the conversation. "Come on..." she said, lifting up Theorem, his arm across her shoulders "we can't stay here..." "Wait..." he said, finally coming to "my leg..." He reached out for it, and as if in response, an orange beam struck it, causing it to burst into scrap and slag. Theorem had a look of shock on his face. "He did that on purpose, he's torturing me, he's torturing me!" "Calm down, he..." she noticed that his leg was still leaking. "You need to turn off the valve to your leg. These bodies don't do that automatically...!" She finally sensed the stomping, the sound, the vibrations caused by something massive pressing upon the ground rapidly. She looked down the alley to see Maxion walk out of the darkness. "Now..." he said "You either come with me, or run head first into my sniper's range." "Sniper...?" she was working hard to hold Theorem who was trying to hop away. She weighed her options. This wasn't the Maxion, the 'Zen' she remembered, what ever his body was composed it, it was clearly not Duranium. Maybe...no she thought, a standard issue blaster wasn't going to cut it. He had that...'feeling', one she was familiar with. Hyperion had it, Victorious had it, 'Zen' had it. It was that silent, unspoken aura of power, that pricked at her instincts and told her 'yes, he can do far more damage than that'. "What about him...?" she said referring to Theorem. Maxion growled, a noise unheard of for a Chromium, Cyberbot or Destroid and Theorem took off. With one leg, he rolled and hopped away, only for an orange beam to strike him in the head, bursting it open like a baseball bat to a watermelon. Indigo stood there stunned, there was bit of fuel on her face along with fragments of Theorem's helmet and neural chip. She wiped them off, trying to hold on to her mind. She turned and Maxion was immediately behind her. It struck her then, that his approach was only audible because he wanted it to be, he was being theatrical, spooking them...like a hunter. "Why...?" "Because I wish to talk to you, alone..." "So you took of his leg and killed him...?" "No, that was just...bad luck for him..." she sneered. "Oh please, as if you have never seen anyone die for a stupid reason." Indigo looked away. "Why, what do you want...?" "To talk..." "Why would I...?" "Because I hold your entire species hostage..." Part 9 Indigo fell to her knees on the metal panel floor and threw up, a good portion of stored fuel. Maxion was with her, not concerned with the mes she just made. "Yes, your kind seems to be a bit...bothered by by travel through a matter stream. Your friend Theorem passed out the first time." "Don't talk about him like that..." "Why, I highly doubt you liked him, and I don't fear speaking the truth about the dead." She watched as he walked towards the console and looked around. This was some manner of computer room, a control station. The question now, was, where was it? If she could get a signal out. "Your job was to talk to me, yes...?" She looked forward at Maxion. He backed her. "Yes, to convince you to come peacefully..." "Well... convince me..." "...We need you..." "My dear, you're going to have to try harder than that..." "An entire race could die out if you don't..." "What, 'sacrifice myself'? You may think that is some altruistic thing to do, but it isn't." "The war is over..." "Yes, one era has come to an end, but I see the next one, and I don't agree with it. Do you remember our last conversation..." "...You said we treated each other as just...'machines'..." "Am I wrong...? After a thousand years of conflict, have you lot learned to value the sentient existence of each other and other beings? Look at Theorem, the idea of anything other than 'Chromium' was automatically inferior in his mind. He held on to it, so much, to that idea, that bigotry, that when it came time for it to be proven wrong...he broke. Not physically of course, you can thank the Proton beam for that, but in the mind, he was broken and the cracks just kept getting longer and deeper. Could you have fixed him?" "You can fix anything with enough time..." "No, you can't, and many ask for the wisdom to know when that is. Your kind...you were not built female, were you...?" "What..I..." "I have read your bio-code, sorry 'life code', it became readable when you were put in that body. Why did you change." "I...I don't know..." "You're a terrible liar, but let me tell you...my theory. There was a brand of Mechanoid, there was a new field of study, new things, unseen before, special. You changed to become part of something special, you joined the Mental Doctors to be something special. But the female gender, it has existed for longer than you know..." "I don't, understand..." "Your code, is a simplified, mimicry of my own Bio-Code. With every natural heart created, there were many with what they considered 'a coding error'. There was no mistake, every Heart had some parts of it randomized, it was inevitable. The code served no...obvious purpose, and thus those hearts were deleted. That was your society from the beginning. Now, the Coded were created to mimic the Naturals, because who has time to sit down and code a new genome? The error came back, but this time, no one really cared, there was a war going on, it had been going for so long and with each new batch requiring more and more effort to cultivate, was such a 'trivial' error worth it. Thus the female gender was 'born'. That's your race in a nutshell, conformity, control, a denial of rights in the name of the state and no respect for sentience. An entire aspect of your species, a portion of your population, wiped out, eradicated...until it no longer became worth the effort. Tell me, have you really changed?" Indigo looked down, with a sad, defeated look as he turned around. She couldn't say he was wrong, he really couldn't "Why do you care so much...?" "I care because you are now their servants, and that spells ill for the rest of the galaxy. Your 'prosperity' means more than my suffering, it means a loss of the safety and freedom for the rest of the galaxy!" "No it's more than that..." "Hardly...Well yes, but I think the threat you represent is more of the point..." "Is it? I seen nothing but cruelty from you, what happened to him, the bot on those taps, talking about freedom, brotherhood, rights?! What happened to him?!" He knelt down. "He was stuck for centuries in a prison being tortured everyday of every second. Then trapped in a false identity consumed by hate for his fellow bot, and awoke to a race, the product of his misery, bending the knee to the architect of his suffering and he knows what all of this will mean. He saw a galaxy burned and wounded by the creatures, born of his torture, and blames himself, for not stopping it" "And you have to destroy us...to make amends? One crime to make for a crime you didn't commit?" "Listen, there is so much more you could, brainwash, alter our minds to be..." "Creating a shell program for your kind is infinitely harder, than what I am about to do and would take time, I frankly do not have..." "That can't be it, that can't be why you brought me here!" "Who knows why I brought you here, heck I don't even know. You're the psychiatrist, you tell me..." She was silent, clearly thinking for an answer. "You brought me here to defend my people's right to continue functioning. You brought me here because while you believe in your cause, this...is not the course of action you wish to take...genocide..." "No, no it is not..." "Do you really feel so trapped in your actions...?" "There is no other way..." "There is always another way. There has to be... The war is over, all the fighting, all that death was supposed to stop, we were supposed to start living. Even the Titans, we thought them instruments of destruction, their creator, the Masters are demanding peace!" "I have seen their 'peace', I was made to enforce it long ago, it is not much better than war..." "Is that is then...?" Before Hyperion as his group, they appeared in a bright white flash of light, Maxion and Indigo. Immediately they aimed their weapons at him. "Wait...!" "What do you mean wait...?" said Sigma. "She means..." said Maxion "that I surrender..." Part 10 "Stasis Pod...?" said Maxion, they were back in the shuttle about to enter. Sigma an Iota had brought the Cylinder shaped capsule forward, while Indigo and Hyperion guarded Maxion. Maxion wore stasis cuff, large metal hand restraints that worked to selectively paralyze the wearer. "You exactly expect us to trust you...?" said Hyperion "Not after the last two ships you were on...?" "A fair point..." "But before you go, is it truly you, Maxion...?" "...Does that in your chest still ache...?" "What...?" "You often commented on that 'wound in your chest'..." Hyperion was silent and everyone looked at them. "I see, into the pod..." Maxion walked into the pod. It closed on him, and when it opened it he was on another world. It was a metal world, blasted and ruined metal. In the distant the remains of cities and mountains could be seen, all of them had been mostly melted down. Yes, there was civilization on this world, for the first time in centuries. They had landed at a landing pad, which connected to a main building by a long road. Beside it stood two Mechanoid titans. Giants of steel, humanoid, but covered with enough weaponry to supply a small fleet. They were was burned this world, incinerated its continents and forced its people to run, now those same people bowed to the same masters as it. Maxion found himself escorted out of the pod and the shuttle, to this seen. "How long was the trip...?" "Why does it matter?" asked Indigo.. "I am curious..." "Not of your fate...?" said Sigma. "Oh, my fate is already obvious..." "Good! Theorem may have been a pain, but what you did to him, to all of your victims!" Iota put his hand on her shoulder. "No, now, when we have peace..." "Bending the knee is not peace...it's compliance, but then for the desperate there really isn't much difference..." "You...!" "Do not.." said Hyperion "he is not as harmless as he seems..." "Zen...!" shouted Cerebrium. Maxion stood in the middle of a circular room. Around him were raised rows of chairs which were scarcely populated by council members, Cyberbot and Destroid. "You stand here accused of crimes against the species, how do you plead..." "My name, you annoying little knock-off, is Maxion Prime..." Beside him were two mechanoids, who bore his 'Zen' body. "I had thought, that since Indigo had convinced you to stand down, you would've abandoned..." "Cut the slag...I know full well you know what I am saying is true Cerebrium. I remember you, peering into the core. Did you think I wasn't looking back? In fact, I must thank you. It was thanks to your actions I was able to escape..." Cerebrium was taken back in shock. The others began to whisper among themselves. "Enough of this nonsense. You Plasma Heart it will be removed and used to power the core..." "I doubt that..." "Oh, and why is that...?" Cerebrium asked amused. "Because, these bands, they were made for a robotic body powered by a Plasma Heart. Even if Birth Metal bodies, they still have an affect I imagine..." "Yes, what is your point...?" Maxion pulled its apart, grabbed one guard and slammed him into the other. Then he transformed one arm into a cannon and shot the two guards at the door. He took of the remains of the shackles when he turned back around to the council. "I have an Ember, and thus the code these things are broadcasting into my body...? It means nothing..." "That's impossible..." said a councilman. The Duranium plated guards got up and charge at Maxion. One arm retracted inward, the area around his wrist, half of it flipped over, forming the projector of a one sided blade of energy, like a blue glowing katana. It pierced the Duranium plating, like butter, and Maxion split him from his chest up through his head. The other once, was slice in two, from shoulder to arm pit. With both offline. "That's impossible...!" shouted another. Maxion simply reverted his weapons back to his hands. "So what now... 'Maxion'?" said Cerebrium. "Now...?" he replied "Now you convince me not to kill you all..." "So this is about revenge...?" "Revenge, no, extinction, yes, yours..." "You bluff, you were.." "Captured? Yes, but I went to your people, they did not find me..." "It doesn't matter, the titans, they blasted your 'precious' home to nothing!" "Yeah, that was a loss...But I never said I was on Vandora..." "What...?" there was fear in the room. "Do you know what we Vandorans, sorry, Vandoricon were good at...? Cloaking devices, hiding, stalking. The chief of these forms of stealth was he Ghost Field, out of-phase with the rest of creation, putting it specifically beyond the limits of your 'masters'..." "What, oh, yes...I am chiefly familiar with..." A plasma bolt hit him in the back. It nothing more than splatter across his back. He turned to see Sigma, with Iota behind her. "So...how many...?" "What...?" she replied "How many of your friends did I kill...?" Sigma screamed at the top volume of her voicebox and charged, firing. Maxion simply conjured out an arm cannon and shot her. The blast, ripped a large chunk of her head, the side, open. She collapsed, with an exposed CPU, a spherical cluster of chips, wiring and connection ports, now some of them were burnt out and/or fused together. Iota ran over to her and looked at her with horror, then reached for the blaster. "Do not risk it..." He picked it up. Maxion's blast struck him in the chest. Even if it didn't destroy his plasma heart, the explosion blew straight through him and sent him flying back. The senators were aghast at what they saw. "Really now..." said Maxion "have you fools who ordered so many to their end, never seen death before...?" The sound of footsteps came down the hallway, a group of guards. Maxion prepared himself as the council members smirked. "He is mine..." said Hyperion forcing his through the crowd "any who touch him will deal with me." "Hyperion...!" said a council member, a Destroid "do not be foolish, simply..." Hyperion blast took his head clean off and left a hole through the wall. "Tell me..." said Hyperion "your doomsday weapon, it is still safe isn't it...?" "Indeed..." said Maxion "to the shock of everyone. "Nonsense..." said Cerebrium "Zen's..." "He will shoot you, you know..." Everyone was silent. "Indigo told me, you took her have her convince not to go through with the genocide. Why...Do you have doubts...?" "What I do, I do in the name of the lives I couldn't save, and the lives I still can..." The politicians began to quarrel "I will shoot you!" They were silent "I am not one who holds to the idea that the 'greater good' excuses 'great evil'..." "But you will destroy us..." "Yes, but where is this 'yes' coming from? You are an original Chromium, not some knock-off of my genetic code." "It doesn't matter, you claim to be righteous..." "I don't, I claim that I will end you all, but...you see... I keep...as I think, more and more about this moral dilemma, I find it harder to figure out, am I doing this because it 'needs' to be done..." His eyes began to glow bright red "or because I absolutely despite every single one of you...?" Part 11 Metal panels, buckled and gave way to force by which Maxion and Hyperion threw each other around. The two had locked arms and the trying to throw the other about. Down the hallway was a bunch of guards, normal mechanoids, armed with rifles and standing back. Maxion released his grip as he was sent flying down the hallway, stabbing his energy blade into the face of a Duranium plated guard and slicing the other in half, before Hyperion's shot sent him skidding back. "Truly..." said Hyperion "You have returned to your Vandoricon body, your natural forcefield is annoying as it ever was..." "Thanks, and you...?" "Don't worry about that, just worry about me...!" He fired again, and Maxion ducked, as the wall behind him was blasted open. Maxion ducked in, and it was then that bolts of plasma fire out of the walls. Maxion was firing from another room, and Hyperion ducked as the guards behind him were struck. "What is going on here...?" said Cerebrium "It's Hyperion and Maxion sir..." said a guard "we were told not to..." "I don't care what Hyperion said, I want that bot..." Hyperion moved through the crowd and grabbed Cerebrium by the head, digging his finger into his optic. Cerebrium's struggles were in vain. "Do not forget who constructed whom..." said Hyperion "You lot, spread out and find him, engage if you have a deathwish..!" The crowd of guards scattered. "You can't..." said Cerebrium. In response Hyperion raised his cannon to his chest. The majority of his chest, that which wasn't blown off, was warped and crushed together from the graviton vortex left behind.Category:Episodes Category:SolZen321 Category:Maxion Series